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Esports Matches Are Drawing Major-League-Level Action on Polymarket

By Tony Sink

League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 are generating six- and seven-figure volume per listed match, showing why esports may be one of the most overlooked betting markets for sports bettors.

Prediction markets are often discussed in the context of elections, economics and major American sports. But on Polymarket, one of the more active corners of the sports market is not played on a field, court or rink.

It is esports.

A Doc's Sports analysis of Polymarket sports markets over the past year found that top competitive gaming titles — especially League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 — are drawing substantial market activity on a per-match basis. Traditional sports still led the sports universe by average volume per listed game, but the largest esports titles produced activity levels that look much closer to major-league sports than niche gaming coverage might suggest.

League of Legends markets averaged about $1.2 million in primary match-winner volume per listed match across 442 matches, while Counter-Strike 2 averaged about $947,000 across 455 matches. Dota 2 averaged nearly $497,000 per match, and Valorant averaged about $383,000.

Key findings

  • League of Legends was the top esport by average volume per match, with about $545 million in total primary-market volume across 442 listed matches.
  • Counter-Strike 2 was close behind, with roughly $431 million in total primary-market volume across 455 matches.
  • Top esports did not surpass the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL, but League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 produced six- and seven-figure median match volumes.
  • The esports market was highly concentrated, with League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 far ahead of Dota 2, Valorant and the long tail of other titles.
  • The biggest esports match in the analysis, T1 vs. KT Rolster, generated $28.2 million in primary-market volume and $40.5 million in total event volume.

Esports are not beating major sports, but are getting close

Traditional sports still dominated the top of Polymarket's sports volume rankings. The NFL averaged about $5.2 million in primary-market volume per listed game, while the MLB averaged about $4.1 million. MLB and the NHL also posted multimillion-dollar averages.

But the gap between major sports and top esports was not as large as many casual fans might assume. League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 do not look like fringe markets. They look like serious sports markets with hundreds of listed matches and consistently meaningful volume.

League of Legends and Counter-Strike dominate esports betting interest

The esports market is not evenly distributed. League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 form a clear top tier, with hundreds of match-level markets and the highest average and median volumes among esports titles.

League of Legends generated about $545 million in primary-market volume across 442 matches. Counter-Strike 2 followed with about $431 million across 455 matches. Together, those two titles accounted for the bulk of high-volume esports match activity in the analysis.

Dota 2 and Valorant formed a second tier. Other titles appeared on Polymarket, including Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, Mobile Legends, Honor of Kings, Overwatch, StarCraft and Rocket League, but those markets were much smaller by comparison.

The biggest esports matches drew millions

Looking at betting volumes for individual matches shows just how large the top esports markets can get.

The highest-volume esports match of the last year was T1 vs. KT Rolster, a League of Legends best-of-five that generated $28.2 million in primary match-winner volume and $40.5 million in total event-market volume. Several other League of Legends matches cleared $10 million in primary-market volume, including Anyone's Legend vs. T1, T1 vs. Top Esports and Gen.G vs. KT Rolster.

Counter-Strike 2 also broke into the top esports rankings, led by Spirit vs. G2 at the IEM Cologne Major Playoffs, which generated about $7.3 million in primary-market volume and about $10.3 million in total event volume.

Why it matters

The findings show that esports is becoming a meaningful part of the sports prediction-market landscape, but activity remains concentrated in a small number of established games and competitions. League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 generate enough trading volume and market depth to produce useful signals about expectations, competitive balance and changing sentiment. Thinner markets, by contrast, may be more vulnerable to individual trades and less reliable as measures of the broader crowd's outlook.

For bettors and other market participants, that distinction matters when interpreting prices. A probability backed by substantial trading activity may contain more information than the same price in a lightly traded market. Liquidity does not guarantee that a prediction will be correct, but it can make prices more stable and responsive to new information.

The growth of esports markets also matters beyond betting. Prediction-market activity provides a new way for leagues, teams, and analysts to measure audience interest and identify which games, tournaments and matchups attract the most engagement. As the market expands, the most active esports competitions could increasingly support the same kinds of odds-based analysis already common in traditional sports, including upset tracking, shifts in market confidence and comparisons of forecasting accuracy across leagues.

Methodology

To see how esports compare with traditional sports leagues, Doc's Sports analyzed Polymarket sports markets over the 365-day period ending July 30, 2026, focusing on listed game-level and match-level markets across traditional sports and esports.

Markets were classified by sport, league or esport title, then grouped into traditional sports and esports for comparison. The main ranking metric was average primary-market volume per listed game or match. To be included in the main league-level ranking, a sport, league or esport title needed at least five qualifying games or matches and each included matchup needed at least $100 in primary-market volume.

The analysis prioritized primary match-winner or game-winner markets because they offer the cleanest comparison across sports. These are the core markets asking which team, player or competitor will win a specific game or match. In traditional sports, that means the main winner market for a listed game, such as an NFL, NBA, MLB or soccer matchup. In esports, it means the main winner market for a listed match, such as a League of Legends best-of-five, Counter-Strike best-of-three or Valorant best-of-three.

Markets that were not clearly tied to a single game or match were excluded from the main rankings. This included futures markets, tournament-winner markets and proposition markets that measured something other than which team or player won a specific matchup.

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